Ecology Scavenger Hunt
Arwa Gangardiwala and Austin Hinkle
Ecological Terms
This project includes all of the terms found in an ecosystem such as:
- The Symbiotic Relationships
- Abiotic and Biotic Factors
- Autotrophs and Heterotrophs
- The Carbon Cycle (ways that carbon is released or taken)
- Food Chains and Food Webs
- A Predator-Prey Relationship
Symbiotic Relationships
Mutualism
The student-teacher relationships demonstrates mutualism, since the teacher gets money by teaching, and the student recieves an education.
Commensalism
The picture on the shelf represents commensalism. The picture frame gets to sit on the shelf, but the shelf gets no harm or benefit.
Parasitism
A human-parasitic worm shows parasitism. The worm gets to absorb nutrients while the human loses those nutrients.
Abiotic vs. Biotic
Biotic
Plants and other organism are biotic factors because they go through processes to obtain energy and go throug the 7 life processess.
Abiotic
Rocks, water, and the sun are abiotic factors in an ecosystem because they do not go through the 7 life processess.
Autotroph vs. Heterotroph
Autotroph
Plants recieve their energy through photosynthesis, and during this process, they make their own food.
Heterotroph
The big fish eats other small fish to gain energy.
Carbon Cycle
Living Organism
Organisms besides plants release carbon into the air through cellular respiration.
Gases from Cars/Vehicle
Oil is an fossil fuel, and it releases carbon into the air when the car is in motion
Smoke from Construction/Human Development
Gases released from human development such as smoke release carbon.
Dead Human
Decaying matter and waste from dead organisms release carbon into the air.
Plants
Plants are the ones who actually take in carbon instead of releasing it, so that they can use it for photosynthesis.
Food Chain
Grass
Grass is a producer, and recieves 100% percent of energy from the sun
Cricket
The insect is a primary consumer who consumes the grass for energy. It only recieves 10% of the energy.
Parrot
The parrot, or the secondary consumer, eats the insect for energy. Here 90% of energy is gone, and the parrot gets 1% of the energy.
Brown Bear
The bear eats the parrot for energy. Most energy is lost, and the bear only gets .1% of energy, showing why there are fewer tertiary consumers.
Moss/Algae
The moss is the decomposer. After the tertiary consumer dies, the decomposers break down dead waste, and it is absorbed back into the ground.
Predator-Prey Relationship
The predator is the organism thats eats other organism, and the prey is the organism that is eaten. The predator, who is on a higher level on the food chain, eats an organism from the lower levels, creating a predator-prey relationship. The lizard eats the cricket to gain energy, making the lizard the predator, and the cricket, the prey.